


he choked

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, New Relationship, One Shot, Post-Canon, Post-S1E10 - Act Two, stage fright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22883608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: “Seb, listen to me,” Carlos says seriously, taking him carefully by the shoulders and lowering him into a chair. “You absolutely can do this. You were amazing last night – you absolutely stole the show, second only to the weird Ricky-Nini-EJ love triangle drama.” Seb breathes out a shaky laugh. “You are going to walk out on that stage, yell at everyone to shut up, and then completely nail your Status Quo bridge and dance break with Rico.”ORSeb's feeling anxious for the show's second night, and Carlos tries to soothe his nerves.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	he choked

Carlos is sure that what Ricky is saying is interesting, but stops listening as he spots Seb rushing up to Kourtney, who’s rummaging through a prop box, and tugging frantically on her sleeve. “Kourt-Kourt-Kourt-Kourt!” His eyes are wide and Carlos can see his shoulders rising and falling erratically.

“Seb, what’s wrong?” she says, abandoning her task and turning to face him.

“Have you seen Carlos?” he asks. She points in his direction; Seb turns to look and practically sprints over to him.

“Uh, Ricky, can we talk about this at the interval?” Ricky takes in Seb’s distressed expression and nods.

“Sure, no problem. It can wait.”

“Talk to me, honey.” Carlos turns his attention to Seb. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t do this,” he says, nearly gasping for breath. “My family’s come back to watch it again tonight and they’ve brought my _grandparents_.”

“Is that bad?” Carlos asks, a little nonplussed.

“They don’t know I’m gay yet,” he hisses. “And if they see me playing Sharpay, they are going to start asking questions I am not prepared to answer.”

“I thought you were okay with this?” Carlos says gently.

“I was,” says Seb, desperation creeping into his voice. “They live in Wyoming, I didn’t know they were coming.”

“Seb, listen to me,” Carlos says seriously, taking him carefully by the shoulders and lowering him into a chair. “You absolutely can do this. You were amazing last night – you absolutely stole the show, second only to the weird Ricky-Nini-EJ love triangle drama.” Seb breathes out a shaky laugh. “You are going to walk out on that stage, yell at everyone to shut up, and then completely nail your _Status Quo_ bridge and dance break with Rico.”

“Okay,” Seb says, his voice a little stronger.

“Then the crowd are going to cheer and applaud, and you are going to walk off that stage,” Carlos says firmly, pointing in the direction of the music to emphasise his point, “fully confident that this is who you are, and that it is absolutely okay. Got it?”

“Got it.” Seb smiles nervously, and Carlos takes his hand and squeezes it.

“Good. I gotta go talk to Ricky about a number, but come find me if you need me, okay?” Seb nods.

“Thanks.” Carlos smiles empathetically at him, and kisses his forehead as he stands up.

“Go get ‘em.”

After making sure that Ricky was happy with his dance, Carlos makes his way to the stage left wing, where he can hear the chorus of _Status Quo_. He looks out onto the stage and watches the dance break with satisfaction, where Gina in particular is absolutely nailing every step. He shifts his position slightly so that he can see Seb march onto the balcony platform, and hears his commanding voice shout, “Everybody QUIET!”

Carlos grins as the band falls silent for a moment, and he waits with anticipation for Seb to start singing. The silence grows longer, and the smile fades from Carlos’ face as realisation dawns. Seb’s not singing. He’s not even moving. “Oh, God.” Still nothing. “Oh, God, please, no.” The cast start to look nervously at each other, and Carlos sees Rico nudge Seb with his foot. “This cannot be happening,” Carlos breathes, his hands covering his mouth in horror, as whispers start echoing around the audience. It’s like a car crash – Carlos so badly wants to look away, unable to bear seeing Seb so terrified, so paralysed with fear, but he just can’t shift his gaze. Neither, apparently, can anybody else.

Apparently realising that the scene has stalled, and clearly desperate to save the situation, Rico starts singing Seb’s lyrics. “ _This is not what I wanted, this is not what I planned_ …” The irony of these lyrics is not lost on Carlos, his eyes fixed on Seb, still frozen in his position on the balcony as Rico descends the staircase by himself, and as the band hastily starts up again.

“What’s happening? Why isn’t Seb singing?” Miss Jenn hisses, suddenly appearing at Carlos’ side.

“He choked,” he whispers back. “Rico’s covering for him, but he’s still there.”

“Shit,” Miss Jenn says under her breath, any decorum forgotten. Suddenly the solo ends, and the cast joins in with the chorus. Just like that, the spell is broken; Seb flinches, and hastily exits stage right. Carlos immediately makes to go after him, but the area behind the stage is crowded with people going for costume changes, looking for props, and preparing for upcoming scenes. As a result, it takes him several minutes to get around the other wing, and Seb is nowhere to be seen. Ricky and EJ are there, preparing for their scene, and looking equally perplexed about what they just witnessed.

“Carlos, what’s going on?”

“Why is Seb not singing his solo?”

“Guys, there’s no time,” Carlos interrupts. “Did you see where Seb went?”

EJ points towards the makeshift stage door. “Back towards the dressing room, I think.” Ricky starts speaking again, but Carlos doesn’t wait to listen, so calls back an apology as he quickly walks away.

Kourtney and Nini greet him with puzzled expressions as he practically skids through the door to the big classroom they’ve been using as a communal dressing room for the boys. “Carlos, what is going on?” Kourtney asks, thrusting a discarded costume onto the hanger rail and folding her arms across her chest. “Seb just marched in here, didn’t say a word, changed into flat shoes and disappeared.”

“Do you know where he went?” Carlos asks desperately, and Kourtney shakes her head.

“I think that was covered by him not saying anything,” Nini chips in unhelpfully, and Carlos groans.

“Is he okay?” Kourtney asks.

“He choked on his solo.”

Her jaw drops open. “Never.”

“I’ve got to find him,” says Carlos. “And you,” he adds, pointing accusingly at Nini, “shouldn’t be in here. This is the boys’ dressing room. Out.” He shepherds her out, ignoring her protests of just going in to see Kourtney, and pulls out his phone to call Seb. The call goes straight to voicemail, and Carlos tightens his fist in frustration and taps his phone rapidly against his other hand, trying to think where Seb would have gone.

He tries a few obvious places – the bomb shelter where they rehearse, the cafeteria, the bathrooms – to no avail. He loops back to the dressing room, where the entire cast has by now gathered for the interval. Carlos is annoyed that they’re all there, since they’re not supposed to go into each other’s dressing rooms, but he has bigger problems.

The atmosphere is noticeably off: the interval is normally a time when a cast lets off steam and chats at a million miles an hour about what went well – or not – during the first act. Now, though, voices are hushed and concerned, and all chatter stops when Carlos enters, and every face turns towards him.

Gina breaks the uncomfortable silence. “What’s going on?”

Carlos considers his words carefully. “Seb is M.I.A.”

“Why?” Ashlyn asks; having been backstage, she didn’t see what happened, and Carlos imagines various versions of the events have been recounted over the last five minutes, so he decides to set the record straight. He momentarily wonders where the _hell_ Miss Jenn is, but pushes the thought aside.

“He got stage fright,” he says simply. “And I think he, uh, freaked out a little bit.”

“We gotta look for him,” says Ricky, jumping to his feet.

“No,” Carlos says firmly. “Absolutely not. _I_ am going to look for him. _You_ are going to go to your respective dressing rooms and make sure you are ready for Act Two.” They all stare blankly at him. “That means now,” he adds testily, and everyone scrambles to their feet. The girls file out, and Rico comes over to Carlos.

“What about Seb’s part?” he asks nervously. Although vaguely annoyed by the distraction, he realises that one of his cast needs guidance, and damn it, he’s not about to deny him that.

“You stepped up brilliantly back there,” he says, looking Rico in the eyes seriously. “You think you can do it again, if we don’t find Seb?”

“I mean, I know his lines,” he shrugs. “I think I do, anyway. But what about when we have dialogue?”

“Improvise,” says Carlos. “You’ve got this. Skip lines if they don’t make sense, and the others will follow your lead. Okay?” He pats Rico encouragingly on the shoulder, then hurries out of the door.

It’s possible, of course, that Seb’s gone back to his house, but Carlos doesn’t think he would go home in the dark by himself, especially since Kourtney said he didn’t even change out of his costume. He did change out of his heeled boots, though, so wherever he’s gone, he didn’t want to be wearing those shoes, which means he’s probably outside. This alarms Carlos even more, because it’s early December, and it’s freezing outside.

He hurries down the hallway towards the external doors, but stops as he passes one of the music rooms. He hears a slow, mournful tune coming from inside. He’s about to turn the handle when it opens by itself, and Miss Jenn slips out. “Is that..?” Carlos asks, and she nods.

“He’s very upset.” Carlos bites back a retort of _no shit_. “I’ve said I’m not going to force him to go back onstage, but we’re going to have to think of something else.” She rubs her temple; with this and the previous night’s chaos, Carlos can’t help but think the experience has probably knocked about ten years off Miss Jenn’s life.

“I’ve recruited Rico to fill in.”

“As both characters?”

“He’ll work it out,” Carlos shrugs. “But let me talk to Seb. I might be able to change his mind.” She nods and steps away from the door.

Silently turning the handle, he slips inside: Seb’s familiar figure is sat at the piano, softly playing _Words Fail_ from _Dear Evan Hansen_. Carlos sidles around the edge of the room until he’s up against the same wall as the piano. He sees Seb glance around at him, but doesn’t stop playing, so Carlos comes to sit nearby and leans up against the wall. Seb tails off after a minute or two, not even bothering to resolve the chord, and turns on the stool to face Carlos.

“I can’t go back out there,” he says quietly. “I just can’t.”

“No one’s making you,” Carlos says, patting the floor next to him. Seb looks utterly miserable as he slumps down next to him and leans his head on Carlos’ shoulder.

“What will they do?”

“Rico’s going to cover for you,” Carlos says calmly. “Everything’s under control.” Seb groans and turns his head to bury his face in Carlos’ neck. Instinctively, Carlos wraps his arms around him, despite the slightly awkward angle, and presses a kiss to his cheek.

“I really thought I could do this,” Seb mumbles into his shoulder.

“I still think you can,” Carlos says gently. “But know that you don’t have to.” He feels Seb shake his head, and Carlos releases him as he pulls away and sits back.

“I can’t go back out there,” he repeats. “It’d be too embarrassing.”

“I’m really not going to force you,” Carlos says. “In fact, I’m going to go, and leave you to make up your own mind.”

“Do you have to go?”

“I have to go psych up the others for Act Two,” Carlos says with an apologetic shrug. “But your part’s waiting for you if you want it. And I promise I’m not saying this to be manipulative,” he adds, “but it will be a hell of a lot easier to face your family if you go back on, than if you don’t.” He kisses his fingers and holds out a hand in Seb’s direction, offers him a smile, and exits the music room. Before re-entering the dressing room (where the girls are inexplicably back _again_ ), he takes a deep breath, then walks in and shouts, “What team?” to an enthusiastic chorus of “Wildcats!”

Carlos spends the first ten minutes of the second act with his eyes practically glued to the stage door in the opposite wing. When Seb doesn’t reappear for his first scene, Carlos gives up and instead watches Rico and the rest of the onstage cast, half-adlibbing the scene as they try to convey its meaning without Sharpay’s dialogue. It’s a little painful, but Carlos realises that’s probably only because he knows the script back-to-front, so the audience probably hasn’t noticed anything – with the possible exception of anyone who saw the show last night. Which, of course, includes Seb’s family. Crap.

He stops bothering to look for Seb after that; he might be able to convince him to come back for the final performance tomorrow, but tonight’s a write-off, he thinks gloomily. He tries not to think about him, instead doing his best to focus on the rest of the cast, who, despite their surprise and confusion about Seb, are absolutely nailing their scenes, their songs and their dance numbers. Carlos is immensely proud of them, and he makes sure to encourage them accordingly each time someone passes him on their way off the stage.

When the intro music to _Bop to the Top_ starts to play, Carlos looks wistfully across the stage to where Seb should be standing, and blinks in shock. There, exiting the wing and marching determinedly onto the stage, is Seb, fully decked out in his Sharpay garb – feather boa and all. He offers Carlos a secretive smile, then looks out at the audience and starts to sing.

“ _I believe in dreaming, and shooting for the stars…_ ” Rico runs past Carlos and struts onstage, joining in with his own line; Carlos can hardly believe it, and he bounces on the balls of his feet with thrilled excitement, as Seb and Rico flawlessly perform each of the song’s steps in perfect synchronisation, earning a standing ovation as the band bring the song to its triumphant conclusion.

As the band starts vamping the outro music, Seb and Rico run off together, into the wing where Carlos is standing. Seb nearly crashes into him, throwing his arms around him in a fierce, elated hug. When he pulls back, Carlos seizes Seb’s charcoal-coloured t-shirt and pulls him close, closing his eyes and pressing his lips against Seb’s. The kiss doesn’t last long, and Seb looks a little stunned when they break apart, but he smiles broadly, pulling Carlos in for another hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” Carlos murmurs into his ear. “You’re _incredible_ ,” he adds as Seb pulls back.

He shrugs modestly. “Couldn’t have done it without you.” They gaze at each other a moment longer, until Seb seems to bump back down to earth. “Crap, I gotta go change again.”

“Yes, go, go,” Carlos says hastily. He’s a little breathless; after all, it’s not every night you have your first kiss. As Seb disappears into the backstage corridor, he glances at Gina and Nini looking knowingly at him. Nini wiggles her eyebrows. “Oh, sure,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “You get back together with your boyfriend literally onstage in the middle of a show, but _this_ is what’s remarkable.” He lifts his nose high in the air and turns his attention back to Ricky and EJ on the stage.

All too soon, the finale music starts up, and the cast troops onstage individually or in small groups. Once everyone’s bowed, they beckon to the wings, and Miss Jenn and Carlos join them for their own curtain call. Carlos grins broadly as the audience cheers for them, and he bows deeply before stepping back, next to Seb, at the end of the bow line. The cast clasp hands, lift them into the air and bow in unison; Seb holds onto Carlos’ hand a little longer and smiles at him, before they file off into the wings as the curtain falls.

They walk back to the dressing rooms, hands clasped together and fingers interlocked. Ashlyn gasps when she sees them.

“Are you guys, like, official now?”

Seb glances at Carlos and grins. “I guess so.”

Ashlyn squeals excitedly and hugs them both. “That’s so great! Also Seb? You were awesome tonight.”

“Thanks,” he says with a smile. “Your Ms Darbos killed, by the way.” She shrugs proudly.

“Thanks. I’m going to go find my parents. See you guys tomorrow!”

“I should too,” says Seb, his smile fading slightly. Carlos hugs him again.

“It’ll be okay,” he says encouragingly. “Come find me after if you like, or else I’ll see you tomorrow.” Seb nods, looking happier, and leans closer to kiss Carlos again. Without his heels, he has to reach up an inch or two, which Carlos privately thinks is adorable, and he smiles fondly as Seb gives him a soft, “Bye,” before turning away to go and find his family. Carlos exhales deeply, smiles contentedly and goes to tidy up backstage for the next show. After all, tomorrow will now have even more distractions than today.

**Author's Note:**

> This was so stressful to write that I was actually shaking whilst writing the "choke" scene..!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment with your thoughts or hit me up on Tumblr (@tea-for-one-please) - I am always happy to take prompts and the like!


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